The History of Games Cheats
Games cheats are a video gamer’s best friend, offering them in-depth strategies and character stats that can elevate their gaming experience. Whether it’s to skip a hard level or simply add infinite ammo, gamers have many reasons for using cheat codes. While some cheaters are lazy and lack the skills to beat a game on their own, others enjoy the thrill of pushing gameplay to its limits.
The earliest game cheats were created by developers as tools to help test their games. There’s always a phase of development where QA tests have to be run through the entire game to ensure that it can be completed without any major bugs or glitches. Cheats like teleportation, invulnerability, and infinite ammo are great tools to help speed up this process, as they allow QA testers to test the game’s functionality without having to get to the end of the game or restarting it every time.
In addition to these early game developer-created cheats, gamers in the 1980s also began creating their own self-made cheats. Having a good understanding of how the 8-bit computing systems of their time worked, these adventurous gamers would use programs to change values stored in memory blocks, which in turn affected a game’s stats. This allowed players to give themselves invulnerability, infinite ammo, and even a level select screen.
Later, gamers grew to be more sophisticated in their methods of cheating. The advent of the internet brought a flood of websites and forums dedicated to sharing cheat codes, which gave gamers access to a whole host of new tricks. Some of these included modifying the code that controlled a certain in-game character, enabling them to perform actions not normally possible with that character. Other cheats enabled users to modify the game’s packets, changing outbound network traffic and thus influencing the game’s state. This type of cheating is no longer common, however, as most modern games are built with robustness against network modification and the terms of service for most online games explicitly forbid this method of modifying the game’s software.
Some argue that gamers who use cheats are breaking the spirit of the game, as these gamers are essentially taking advantage of holes in the game’s programming to make it easier for them to complete the game. Others counter that game rules are in place for a reason and that breaking them spoils the experience for other players. Regardless of where you stand on this debate, there’s no doubt that cheating has become an integral part of the gaming world. With so many resources available to find and share cheats, there is sure to be a cheat that will suit your gaming needs. Just remember that not all cheats are equal, and that a few cheats can quickly take your gaming experience down a dark path if you’re not careful.
